Economics

Overview | How is unemployment affecting the United States? What can be done to address the high rate of joblessness? Which steps should the federal government take, and which should it avoid? In this lesson, students explore arguments for and against the enactment of proposed legislation and hold a debate.

Materials | At least one computer with Internet access and a projector, access to New York Times articles and other materials about the American Jobs Act.

Warm-Up | Show the class the graphic “Nation’s Unemployment Landscape.” Guide them through the three maps, focusing on the changes in the unemployment rate from 2007 through 2011 across the country; you may also want to focus on your state or region.

“The once-booming South, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, is now struggling with some of the highest rates.”

“Unemployment remains high across much of the country — the national rate is 9.1 percent.”

“The West has the highest unemployment in the nation. The collapse of the housing bubble left Nevada with the highest jobless rate, 13.4 percent, followed by California with 12.1 percent. Michigan has the third-highest rate, 11.2 percent, as a result of the longstanding woes of the American auto industry. “

Next, ask: What do you think the federal and state governments can do to address the unemployment problem and help create jobs? Lead a brainstorm and write student ideas on the board.

In a major setback for President Obama, the Senate on Tuesday blocked consideration of his $447 billion jobs bill, forcing the White House and Congressional Democrats to scramble to salvage parts of the plan, the centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s push to revive a listless economy.

Read the entire article with the class, focusing on the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

Why did both the House and Senate vote not to consider the jobs act as a whole?

What did Republican and Democratic leaders have to say about one another’s stances?

According to the article, what are some of the key provisions of the president’s plan?

What are some of the Republicans’ specific arguments against the bill’s provisions?

Which of the provisions do you think has potential for bipartisan support, and why?

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Activity | Inform the class that they will be engaging in a “structured academic controversy,” a kind of debate, about the president’s jobs bill, to delve more deeply into the arguments on both sides.

Put students in pairs, and assign half of the pairs the pro-jobs bill position and half the anti-jobs bill position. Let students know that once they have researched their position, they will be presenting their argument to another pair that is assigned to the opposing side.

Give each pair the Debatable Issues handout (PDF) to track facts and arguments, and then lead them through the six steps of structured academic controversy.

Step One: Identify the Arguments
To begin, each pair should gather news coverage and analysis. Good starting points are the Times Topics pages on Unemployment and Economic Stimulus.

Step Two: Present the Arguments
When each pair has gathered ample background information, facts and quotes to develop their arguments, have each pair join another pair that was assigned an opposing position. Give each side five minutes to present their best arguments to the opposing side.

While one group is presenting, the job of the other group is to listen carefully and take notes in the other column of the Debatable Issues handout because they will need to be able to repeat the arguments that they hear to the other pair.

Step Three: Restate the Arguments
Once both pairs have presented their arguments, they must both repeat to their opponents the argument that they heard from them. If the opposing pair thinks their counterparts missed anything or got anything wrong, they should interject and correct the other pair.

Step Four: Discuss Personal Opinions
In their groups of four, students take off the personae they were assigned and begin speaking as themselves again, sharing personal impressions and opinions about whether or not they think that President Obama’s jobs bill is the right approach to address America’s high unemployment rates. Remind them that they should pay attention to the arguments that they just presented and heard when formulating their own opinion on the issue.

Inform each group that they will need to come to either a consensus or a compromise or to be able to clearly explain why they could not reach one on the issue because they will need to present their group’s conclusion about the issue to the class.

Step Five: Share Conclusions
All small groups report back to the class about the consensus, compromise or stalemate that they reached when discussing their personal opinions about whether or not Congress should pass the American Jobs Act or enact similar legislation.

Step Six: Debrief the Exercise
As a large group, ask students if this exercise helped them clarify their position on the issue? If so, how? Did they learn anything about the issue that they had not previously known? If so, what? Did anybody change their position during this exercise? Why or why not?

Going Further | Individually, students write letters to their Congressional representative and/or United States senator explaining their views about what portions of proposed unemployment legislation should or should not be passed. They should include specific bits of information gleaned from the debate activity. If desired, students can actually send their letters.

U.S. History
28. Understands domestic policies in the post-World War II period.

Thinking and Reasoning
1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument.
3. Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.
6. Applies decision-making techniques.

Working With Others
1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group.
4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills.

Language Arts
1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
2. Uses the stylistic aspects of writing.
4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
5. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.

I dont get why there even has to be democrat and rebublican. The amount of people opposing the plan and the amount of people wanting it was 49 to 50. Does it really matter which was which? And I dont think the economy right now is any one group or person’s fault. Again, 49 to 50. Mr. Reid said that the rebublicans are opposing improving the economy because it would help Obama, and the other rebublican guy said the democrats were just trying to make the rebublicans look bad. My opinion is that I would support most of Obama’s plan, but not the part about raising taxes or lowering social security. The people of America have enough taxes and too little security.